So Far Away
by Austin Jade
Summary: Wow, another GX AxJ One-Shot. You'd think I'd get tired of this stuff, but alas, I guess not. Alcohol Consumption and complex themes.


Huzzah! Another One-Shot for GX from Yours Truly! Mainly it's because most of you think I had quit writing fics. Well…GUESS AGAIN!! For better or worse, I'm in it for the long haul. So anyways…here's the next One-Shot, in honor of…well…errm…I dunno, really. But here it is.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"This should be a great place to celebrate, Asuka!" a girl squeaked.

Tenjoin Asuka walked up to join her friend. She face-faulted when she saw which bar her friend, Ami Schulters, was entering. "_Midnight Run_, again!?" she shouted. "We always go here!"

"Awwww…!" Ami groaned. "But we haven't been here in over two months!"

"I don't enjoy drinking alcohol, you know that!" Asuka hollered back.

"Let her be, Asuka…" another female, Alexandra Tsukov walked up next to her, with a disproving look aimed at Ashley. "She's always like that. You should know. Besides, you've been stressed out a lot, recently. It's your birthday, you should live it up a bit, hmm?" The girl turned and smiled at Asuka.

"But Alexandra…" Asuka sighed and tapped her forehead with her middle and index fingers. 'New York certainly isn't like Japan, back home.' Asuka exhaled heavily again and raised her head up to the moonlit sky, glancing to the east. "Home…" heavily escaped her lips.

Asuka had left it behind for something greater for herself. She had originally not wanted to leave behind her beloved, if occasionally quirky, friends and the life she had for herself at the Academia. Subconsciously, she had thought that leaving her friends behind would have meant she would never see them again, and she wondered that if they would even remember her. Even after deciding that she would continue her collegiate learning in the United States of America, she had some doubts that they would keep in touch.

She realized how wrong she was the first week she was in school. E-mails came in from almost everyone she was in touch with, even Johan Anderson, Austin O'Brien, and Jim 'Crocodile' Cook, whom she had known only a few months at the beginning of the third year. She suspected her older brother, Fubuki, had something to do with it, but she enjoyed talking with her friends, nonetheless.

There was only one person whom she had not talked to since they had parted ways from the Academia. In fact, no one she asked had seen or heard from him since they all graduated four years ago. Of course, he had left before they had graduated.

It hurt Asuka deeply, more than she ever let on, that Yuki Judai refused to trust them to help him in his troubles. She could tell that, no matter how much he acted like he was a hero, she knew that he was still human. She didn't know when it happened, but somewhere along the line, she had fallen for the boy. Asuka couldn't admit it, even to herself for the longest time, but finally, when Judai had helped her to decide that she needed to grow and become stronger as a duelist and a person, she found the courage to find that she could admit that there was someone she truly cared for. However, because she didn't want to restrict Judai to being with her, she decided against telling him her feelings.

Asuka recalled when it had happened, Judai announcing that he was leaving the Academia. He seemed destined to leave them since they returned from their search for Johan in Dark World. She reminded herself how he had changed in more than just appearance when he, himself, had returned from his trek through Dark World.

There were things that had happened to Judai that the boy never discussed with anyone. Though he was cordial to everyone he came in contact with, it was obvious he had been honed as if he were a razor-sharp knife. Asuka, herself, had seen firsthand at some of the things the 'new' Judai did that the 'old' Judai would never do. Though he opened up a bit more after they didn't abandon him once they found out he was 'fused' with Yubel (to this day, she couldn't figure out how that was possible), the re-emergence of Mr. T and Darkness's subsequent control of Duel Academia caused Judai to go to drastic measures.

As her friends chatted away, Asuka began to wonder why Judai decided to leave. 'It's not like anyone blamed him for what happened to us,' the twenty-two-year-old mused as she swirled her drink in her hands. As she took a sip from the drink in her hand, she set it down and watched the liquid churn in a circle, slowly becoming mesmerized by it as her thoughts traversed back to the events of Judai's last moments at the Academia…

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Asuka, Manjoume, Fubuki, Sho, Kenzan, and Rei all stared at Judai as the group stood in Samejima's office. Chronos-sensei was there as well. Judai was still wrapped in bandages along his left shoulder and abdomen from the Shadow Duel he had against Darkness. According to Judai, the duel had been a draw. As the boy told it, he had declared his final attack as he fainted from blood loss and exhaustion. When he came to, he was in bandages in the hospital, having no idea what happened to his opponent._

_"So, Judai-kun, why is it you had asked all of us here today?" Samejima began._

_Judai picked his head up and glanced at those in the room, heavily sighing he then turned his head out the window, muttering, "I should've just left…"_

_Asuka felt a twinge of pain from that remark, before getting annoyed. "What are you talking about?" she sharply inquired._

_Judai, surprised by the ferocity from Asuka's response, looked at them with a pained look in his eyes, before lowering his stare again. Asuka released a gasp at the hurt in his gaze, and realized she had misinterpreted the statement. "I guess I deserved that," he chuckled half-heartedly. He turned away from them and forced himself to look out the window again. "I am formally sending in my resignation…and tonight, I will be leaving the Academia."_

_Everyone let out a breath of surprise. "But, Aniki…!" Sho exclaimed._

_"Can't you stay at least until graduation!?" Kenzan questioned. "It's only two more weeks!"_

_Judai shook his head. "I can't."_

_"Judai-sama!" Rei cried. "You can't leave us yet! Mr. T won't attack again, _

_Keeping his gaze away from the rest of them, he shook his head once again. "I have to go, guys."_

_"Judai…!" Asuka began. She was stopped by a hand from her brother. The girl glanced back at the older man as he stared down the back of the Elemental Hero/Neo-Spacian duelist._

_"I imagine that, you being Judai, we can't change your mind," Fubuki began, "however, do you think you could give us a reason as to why you need to leave us so soon?"_

_Judai swallowed hard, as if he tried finding the right words. He glanced in the group's direction again. Asuka suddenly felt that he was staring at her specifically. Judai caught her eyesight and began looking out to the courtyard again. "It's just…I…I always seem to drag you guys into my problems and my battles."_

_"What do you mean, exactly?" Manjoume questioned._

_"I know…that we're duelists and are friends, and have been for three years, fighting the enemies of this Academia…but so far, everything I've done has just seemed to negatively effect you guys," Judai stated somberly. "And I always seem to be the source of the trouble. The Light of Ruin…Yubel…and now, Mr. T and Darkness. They always seem to harm you guys as they target me in their plots. And now, Darkness has escaped again. I can't let you guys get involved in this anymore."_

_"But where will you go?" Chronos-sensei asked._

_Judai didn't answer but just kept staring out the window. "Please try to understand, as long as I'm around, you guys will only know sorrow and pain. The only way to stop this is to do what I originally planned, and leave this place and you, my friends."_

_"You do realize that we don't blame you for anything that has happened to us," Manjoume explained. "We are duelists at this school, and are fighters just like you. Anything that goes wrong when we try to make the enemy falter does not automatically go on your shoulders."_

_Judai remained silent, contemplating this statement, before smirking slightly. "Yes, but my one and only plan has been to keep everyone protected…I failed miserably in Dark World, and I don't wish to do so again. I almost did so with Darkness, just now. I can't keep teetering you guys on the brink of happiness and misery. Therefore, I have decided…" He turned his head towards his friends, keeping his eyes closed. He then began to walk out of the room. "See you."_

_Asuka finally couldn't hold it in any longer. "When…?" she choked sorrowfully, causing Judai to freeze at the door._

_Judai turned his head listlessly. "Excuse me…?" he gently wondered._

_"When will that be?" Asuka indignantly wondered. "I know that look of yours. You're trying to make it sound as if you'll only be gone for a while, but you don't ever plan on returning to us, do you?"_

_"Asuka…" Fubuki tried to cut in._

_"Do you honestly think that running away from us will protect us?" Asuka continued, not listening to her elder brother, feeling tears coming to her eyes. The girl used all of her strength to fight them back from coming out in front of everyone. "You may think that we'll be happy, but how are we supposed to be happy by being removed from our friend's life? How are we…am I supposed to be happy about that!?"_

_Judai didn't answer. He just stood frozen at the door for what seemed like an eternity. She thought he saw something sparkly drip off his cheek. She squinted to get a better view of what it was when the boy turned around and gave her the saddest, most remorseful, forced smile she had ever seen. She felt her heart plummet into her stomach. He then almost inaudibly whispered, "Sorry…" as he walked out of the room their lives._

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

After this, they all heard of a powerful Elemental Hero-using duelist who had joined the Duelist League in North America. Asuka had watched the league since she arrived, and even had her friends keep track when she was unable to do so, but so far, the duelist was a mystery. He wore an overly-large, ragged, brown jacket to hid his face, and an adventurer's hat to cover his head. The man even wore black leather gloves to cover his hands. He also had never used Neos nor any Neo-Spacians, leaving her to wonder whether the man really was Judai.

Asuka wondered if the reason Judai had left suddenly was due to what Darkness said as Judai fell unconsciously to the ground during the end of the two's duel. 'Judai…' Asuka sighed, 'I wish I could help you…'

"Asuka!" Alexandra called. Asuka looked up from her drink sat her friends. "Wha'cha thinking' about? You seemed really deep in thought just now." She had the stench of alcohol on her breath, but none of the three were too impaired as of yet.

Asuka's face fell to a goofy grin. "Sorry, I should be celebrating."

"That's right!" Ami stated. "It's your twenty-second birthday!" Asuka nodded in response as the trio caught up with each other from what they were since they last saw each other in their Junior year. Soon, it had begun to get cloudy outside.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Judai trudged outside as the dusk sky began to fade behind a heavy overcast. He stared upwards to gaze at the increasingly ominous nimbus clouds swiftly approaching. It was not long before the young man began to be pelted by the rain.

"Figures," he grunted, huddling deeper into his dark, ragged brown overcoat and pulling his hat down closer to his forehead. He had long since discarded his red Osiris jacket. It held too much regret and too many memories for him to keep on carrying it.

He lowered his head to keep from extremely wet and began to traverse along. "Another day gone, and not one step closer to finding Darkness than I was when I left the Academia a four years ago…" the lad groaned.

Judai shook his head and began walking in no direction in particular, lost in thought. His mind traveled to a dream he'd been having every few days for the last several weeks. 'Of course…it wasn't really dream…' Judai corrected himself. 'More like a vision…And it always goes the same way:

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Judai felt himself floating in an infinity of nothingness, drifting as if he were on a river, and yet he knew he was just standing still. His eyelids were heavy, not allowing him to open them, making it impossible to see were he was. His limbs wouldn't move, either, though he used all of his strength to lift them._

_'What the hell is this…?' he wondered. He knew his limbs were connected to him, but they lost the feeling in them, as if he had been given a large amount of Novocain before an operation._

_Suddenly, a voice echoes throughout his head. "What is your heart's desire?" it asked._

_'What!?' Judai wondered aloud. 'My desire…?'_

_"What is your heart's desire?" it inquired again. Judai tried to make out whether the voice was male or female, but it was impossible to tell, as it sounded like a combination of the two. The voice was gruff, like a male's, but soft and kind like a female's._

_'Isn't it obvious?' Judai thought. 'To defeat Darkness and finish my battle with him once and for all!'_

_"What is your heart's desire?" it repeated._

_'Didn't you hear me!?' Judai thought, the anger rising in his thoughts. 'To defeat Darkness!' He growled in annoyance._

_"I can give you one thing, if only your heart wishes for it," the voice replied this time._

_Judai had enough. 'Listen to me carefully,' his mind stated. 'I want to beat Darkness! That's all I want! It's all I've ever wanted! If I defeat Darkness I can see them again…' he clenched his teeth, "…I can see her again…!" he shouted._

_Judai would then feel himself falling farther into the abyss, as if his body were tied to a giant block of lead. He felt the utter sense of doom closing in on him, like he were approaching the ground. Towards the end, he would prepare to scream out, what appeared to be someone's name._

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

He'd then snap awake and find himself sitting wherever he'd be resting at the time. He didn't think anything of it the first time, and even after the second dream, he just shrugged it off. However, when he had the vision a third time, in the middle of a duel, no less, he began to wonder what it could mean. The only time he ever spoke through his mouth was the last bit.

He remembered how it had all started, with Yusuke Fujiwara appearing at the Academia. Yusuke turned out to be the duel spirit Honest, an ally, but Trueman, better known as Mr. T, also arrived at around the same time, causing Judai problems as Graduation crept upon him and his friends.

Judai had originally planned on leaving the Academia to tackle Trueman on his own terms, but was convinced otherwise by Kagemaru and Saiou. After several victories against the being, Trueman retreated from dueling Judai, but not before Judai's friends learned of his 'fusion of souls' with Yubel. Unexpectedly, or perhaps only because Judai didn't want to believe it, Judai's friends didn't abandon him after learning of his merging.

However, Judai wasn't yet ready to rejoin his friends fully, as he had before. For one, despite the fact they hadn't disowned him, he was still something beyond human intelligence. He just wasn't a normal human anymore. Not only that, but he had also changed in more ways than just the fact that he was not entirely human.

Second, and most important, he didn't want his friends to be harmed. He had seen firsthand what happened if he had tried to keep his friends too close in Dark World. The more he accomplished, the more protected his friends would be, so they would be out of harm's way. Now, he wished for the same goal, but he wanted his friends estranged from him, so no one would target them as a weakness. Sure, he felt lonely, but if it meant that no one close to him would be hurt, he'd burden any hardships.

But Judai's friends were getting hurt, and once again, by the one person who should've realized it first…himself. Judai was neglecting his friends in an attempt to protect them, but they, themselves, were hurt that Judai seemed to not consider their feelings in the matter. One, specifically, was the person Judai never, ever, wanted to hurt again.

Thanks to Asuka, Judai realized that he couldn't neglect his friends, nor could he abandon who he was, just because of what he had become. Judai had forgotten one important thing, that when he wasn't fighting evil, there was no need for him to lose the idea of 'dueling for fun'. She returned him to being more humanlike - more Judai-esque - than he had been since Haou had been unleashed inside of him back in Dark World. Then again, he had many things to thank Asuka for, none of which, regretfully, he ever thanked her for.

Of course, the fact that she, along with everyone else, had been defeated and captured by Mr. T, when he finally returned. Judai finally cornered Trueman and challenged him to a duel. It was a back-and-forth encounter, but Judai was finally able to pull out a victory, eliminating Mr. T.

Normally, Judai would have determined this as finality for their rivalry, but Darkness ended up returning through Yusuke Fujiwara after Judai finally came back to the Academia. Judai and Johan dueled against a Darkness-controlled Yusuke Fujiwara. Johan was defeated, but between with his help, Judai managed to separate Yusuke and Darkness.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_Judai breathed heavily, but began to chuckle as Elemental Hero Neos stood on his side of the field while Darkness had his side barren. "It looks like…this is it…Darkness…" Judai breathed. "Neos! Direct Attack!"_

_Neos sped towards the villain, rearing his fist back, ready to launch it. Judai, however, never got the chance to see the attack, as he felt himself slump to his knees, as the world around him became darker and darker._

_The boy thought he heard something strike, followed by an eruption of laughter. "The end!?" the spirit howled. "I am now darkness incarnate! I am eternal! You can bet that I shall return! And Judai, you shall be the first one I strike down! AHAHAHAHAHA…!"_

**XXXXXXXXXX**

That was the last thing Judai remembered before he awoke to see Asuka and the rest of his friends kneeling over him with worried looks on their faces. Judai had spent the next week or so in the school's infirmary due to the injuries sustained during his prolific duel with Mr. T. While there, he had time to replay the last year over in his head. He thought about Cobra, Dark World, Yubel, Mr. T, Darkness, his friends, and he looked forward to his future. He went through every scenario he could think of to gauge the reward to the risk. However, every reward he could imagine of came with far too much of a chance of someone getting hurt. The answer was right in front of him, and yet it was too difficult to admit it, even to himself.

Judai blocked out the past from his mind. "I don't have time to regret my decisions now," he told himself. "If I do, I'll remember that God-awful dream again…"

The young man walked for what seemed like an eternity, until he found himself outside of a bar. "I guess after a long hard day of work for absolutely nothing…I could go for a drink." He pushed open the door and slid inside. As soon as he entered, he felt everyone's eyes fall onto him. It was natural to him now, as he was still in his now-famous clothing. He just walked up to the bar and ordered his drink.

After receiving his drink, he busied himself to rethinking over the last week's progress of searching for Darkness. 'Progress!?' he corrected himself. 'I'm nowhere near to finding the guy…' He sipped his drink and laid his head upon his folded over arms. 'We'll be leaving here in the next three days to go to Canada. If I don't hear of anything strange by the end of that tour, I think I'll give up the chase in the Americas…maybe I'll to Africa…I haven't seen O'Brien in a while…'

The boy let his mind wander off as the music slowly began to put him into a daze. Or maybe it was the alcohol. He couldn't tell when, but after a short time, he felt someone staring at him. It felt like a female presence, though it was familiar. He brushed it aside. "Wishful thinking…" he murmured, pouring himself another drink and sipping from it.

He set his drink down and sighed. The sensation, coupled with the alcohol swirling in his system, dragged the duelist down into the depths of his loneliness. He once again became haunted by the dream again. It got to the end, when he was about to shout out that he wanted to see 'her' again, when he regained his senses.

The scent of alcohol appeared right behind him. This time, though, his instincts informed him that it was a more masculine scent. "Hey, there, punk," a blonde-haired male, about forty, Judai noted, grunted. Another man, this one black-haired, chuckled, emitting a stronger stench to fill Judai's nostrils.

Judai didn't turn to greet them, simply saying, "Can I help you, gentlemen?"

"I'd like you to face us when you talk to us, for starters," the man slurred. "And I'd like you to get out of our seats."

Judai lifted his drink to his lips as he determined what he should do in this situation. His mind told him that he should just ignore them, pay for his drinks and leave. His heart, however, was annoyed that he couldn't hear the full dream, yet again, and wished to take it out on something. It surprised him slightly, but he always was one to listen to act on his emotions.

He set his drink down and, taking special care to make sure his eyes were revealed between his jacket's collar and his hat, shot a vicious glare via Yubel's eyes at the man sitting next to him. "I'm relaxing here, please be so kind as to remove yourselves before you cause any trouble," he calmly, though angrily, spat.

The man who saw the glare recoiled slightly. However, Judai didn't reveal himself enough to sacred off the man's buddy. "I'll show you who's in trouble…!" the man growled, as he landed a punch on Judai's jaw line.

Judai was knocked off-balance and proceeded to stumble backwards into a table, breaking the two legs closest to Judai's landing point and causing it to crumble. His hat stayed on his head due to the effort Judai went through to keep it to hide his bowl-cute brown hair. The man who had been frightened from Judai's glare stared in disbelief, while the man who had thrown the punch looked on in eagerness. The black-haired man began to crack his knuckles as he approached the younger man. "Looks like you Pro-duelists don't measure up when you're in a real scrap," the man sneered. He spat upon Judai's jacket. "You may be a big-time superstar, but in this bar, me and my pal run things, so know your place."

Judai slowly climbed to his feet. He appeared to be slightly dazed from the punch. He vaguely heard a few people get up out of their chairs, but was unknown to him whether or not they were going to help him or just getting out of harm's way. He didn't care anymore, at this point, anyways. "Not enough yet, eh?" the black-haired man growled. He reared back and launched another punch, but was stopped midway by Judai's hand, blocking the fist.

The man's eyes widened and he hesitated. Judai took this opening to throw the man's fist aside and thrust his punch into the side of the man's face. The man flew back into his friend, causing them both to fall over the stool they had claimed as their own and land hard on their backs. Judai's glare bore into the two men, both of whom stared back frighteningly into Judai's eyes.

Judai looked at them and noticed how scared they were of him. He then glanced to the side and noticed that Yubel's eyes had sneaked out on him in his rage. 'What am I doing…?' he wondered. 'I'm supposed to be protecting these people…that's why I left my friends in the first place…that's why I…' Asuka's image flashed in his mind and he sighed heavily.

Judai bent down onto his knee and made sure the two men hadn't been hurt too badly. He wrote out a check for the damaged property, plus a little extra to pay for the injured men's drinks. He expressed his apology to the owner, the bartender, and the men, and proceeded to leave the premises, stumbling into the cold, dark night.

He breathed heavily and his shoulders drooped. He was alone. That reaction he received from those two guys proved it to him. The best thing he had going for him was at the Academia and he gave it up. For what? To chase some ghost that hadn't appeared before him for nearly four years?

He laughed at himself. He laughed at his idiocy to think he could do this alone. He laughed at his stupidity for ditching his friends when they were the best thing that had ever happened to him. He laughed at his determination to protect so many people, disregarding his and anyone else's feelings on the matter. He laughed until his joy turned to tears. The weight of his decision finally hit him.

There was no one for him here. There was nothing for him to do. His friends had probably long given up on him. And why wouldn't they? He had given up on them before the gave up on him. He didn't know what to do anymore. He figured this was just some plan Darkness came up with to make him suffer for eternity. And Judai had walked right into his ploy. Darkness had played off his fear of his friends' safety and now Judai had nothing left. He was at the end of his sanity, tolerance, and hope. He peered ahead of him, wondering what exactly life would hold for him from now on, preparing himself to face the rest of his life alone.

After several moments, he heard steps from behind him. He picked up the pace to escape, walking faster, when a familiar female voice breathed loudly over the rain, "Yuki Judai!!"

He stopped for a moment. 'No…it can't be…' he told himself. 'That dream was just that…she isn't here…It's the alcohol…'

Again, the female yelled to him, "Judai!!!"

Slowly, he turned to face the woman behind him. Even before he fully faced her, Judai knew exactly who it was. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened in shock. 'It is her…!!' he mused.

But it was. Her gray, passionate eyes stared at him. Her smile mesmerized him. Her blonde hair reminded him of the sun. Her melodious voice rang in his ears, forcing him to remember how comfortable he felt around her. Her skin looked smooth, something he subconsciously longed to touch for what seemed like an eternity.

His lips motioned as he muttered her name, before slipping into unconsciousness under the weight of his despair, weariness, and alcohol consumption, feeling something warm wrap around him, causing him, for the first time since the arrival of Mr. T, to feel happiness in the darkness, mildly noting that his adventurer's hat that had hid his hair so well for so long had begun to fall off his head.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Asuka sprinted down the street. "I don't believe it…" she heaved as she went as fast as her legs and high-heels would carry her. "Here…of all places…today of all days…!"

"Wait, Asuka!" her friends called. "Where are you going!?"

"I'll be back!" she shouted back. "I need to check something, first!"

She continued charging ahead, barely keeping the jacketed figure in sight.

She felt it. When she saw Judai stare the two men down, after he had knocked them over, she saw the look in his eyes. Her friends cowered slightly in fear from the different colored pupils, but Asuka was more concerned with the feeling he emitted. She didn't see any rage or anger. She saw pain, misery, disappointment, and loneliness. She saw a man who was at the end of his rope.

But she also saw him. The boy who had saved her countless times. The boy who had left her and her friends to protect them. The boy willing to sacrifice everything about him in order to make sure everyone would be ok. 'But if he protects the world…' Asuka wondered, '…who's going to protect him?'

She finally ran out of breath from the cold air, rain, and inappropriate running attire. She finally called out heavily, "YUKI JUDAI!!!"

The figure stalled momentarily. Asuka knew immediately that it was who she thought it was. She smiled genuinely at his back. He didn't turn around, so Asuka repeated in a softer tone, "Judai!" This caused the figure to turn and face her. Judai looked upon her in awe. Asuka awaited for him to reply to her. He began to sway back and forth and finally muttered, "Asuka…" before slumping to his knees and continuing "I'm…sorry…" He then slipped out of consciousness.

Asuka gasped and was on him in an instant. She kept the boy from dropping to the ground and held him tightly to her chest. She hugged him tightly, momentarily glancing past him and at the hat that sat behind Judai. Gazing at the puddle next to the hat, she noticed, much to her surprise, tears of joy streaming down her face and streaks indicating that she had been doing so for a while now.

She hugged him even tighter to her, afraid that he would leave again if she released him, knowing that she would shortly be surrounded be her friends to help them. "We all forgive you…" she whispered into his ear. And out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a fleeting appearance of a smile upon the brown, bowl-cut youth's face.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

So, anyways, here it is. I think it went pretty well. Opinions are appreciated. Flames are welcome.


End file.
